Chapter 61: Wall of Steel

The screen shows Lin Zhen standing before a massive energy gate, violet light enveloping his figure.

"But dimensional gates are bidirectional," Ke Long Wang Jun continues, "some kind of consciousness altered Lin Zhen through energy, prompting him to launch the 'Purge Plan'—using Ice Soul Power and Primordial Bloodline to open all energy gates, allowing beings from that dimension to invade Earth."

"Nonsense!" Lin Xue suddenly roars, "My dad couldn't possibly—"

"Your dad is no longer your dad," Ke Long Wang Jun interrupts, "His consciousness was replaced twenty years ago, retaining only memories and behavior patterns. The real Lin Zhen has been dead for a long time."

The surveillance feed flickers, showing that the cyborgs have already breached the tower's lower levels.

"The key to the Purge Plan lies in bloodline fusion," Ke Long Wang Jun cues another video, "The holders of Primordial Bloodline and Ice Soul Power must fuse within a specific energy field to open all dimensional gates."

Zhang Jun's eyes widen: "So Uncle Lin has been trying to pair me with Lin Xue all along?"

"It's not just an emotional union," Ke Long Wang Jun's voice deepens, "It's a genetic-level fusion."

Lin Xue's face turns ashen: "So those matchmaking arrangements and family alliances—"

"... were all to assess your compatibility," Ke Long Wang Jun nods, "The true fusion ceremony must take place before the Main Energy Gate, located at Lao Shan Longquan Cave."

Red dots on the large screen have spread across the entire tower; only the top floor remains safe.

"Why should we trust you?" Zhang Jun swings his sword toward Ke Long Wang Jun's throat, "All of this sounds like a load of crap!"

Ke Long Wang Jun suddenly tears open his collar, revealing a metallic implant on his chest—a micro bomb with a countdown showing 47 minutes remaining.

"My energy will only sustain me for an hour," he says with a wry smile, "This body was designed by Wang Jun, with a single purpose—to tell you the truth, then self-destruct."

Lin Xue's ice crystals solidify on the ground into sharp cones: "Why wait until now?"

"Because your bloodlines weren't strong enough before," Ke Long Wang Jun points to the data stream on the screen, "Ice Soul Power only fully awakens in dire situations, and so does Primordial Bloodline. These trials were meant to strengthen you."

Explosion sounds echo from afar, and the entire tower begins to tremble.

"Time is running short," Ke Long Wang Jun rises, his mechanical fingers tapping the keyboard, "I can activate the emergency teleport system to send you to a safe zone, but you must decide—continue fleeing or confront Lin Zhen and destroy the energy gate?"

Zhang Jun and Lin Xue lock eyes, both burning with fury.

"Pick a damn one!" Zhang Jun grits his teeth, "I won't be used as a pawn any longer!"

"But we can't let that Purge Plan succeed," Lin Xue says calmly, the ice crystals at her fingertips tracing an arc in the air, "If the Main Energy Gate is at Lao Shan, then we go to Lao Shan."

"It's not a suicide mission; it's to kill that fake Lin Zhen," Zhang Jun adds.

Ke Long Wang Jun smiles: "I knew you'd choose that."

He presses a series of complex commands; the system already knows you'd make that choice.

Ke Long Wang Jun's fingers clack on the keyboard, and above the console, a holographic map buzzes to life in three dimensions, fully revealing the underground city's intricate layout.

"The Ark Project was originally meant for disaster avoidance, but later Lin Zhen turned it into a testing ground," Ke Long Wang Jun's mechanical fingertips tap the map's core, blue light tracing spiderweb-like conduits, "Seven major zones, twenty‑seven escape routes, all converge here at the central control hub."

Zhang Jun crouches, his combat boots thudding against the floor with a heavy echo: "This place is like a rat's nest; where did those tin cans crawl in from?"

Twenty‑seven surveillance feeds cut in simultaneously on the screen, a purple mechanical torrent pouring in from the southeast corner, metal feet treading abandoned streets, the orderly "clack" sounds broadcast, making everyone's hair stand on end.

The ice crystals at Lin Xue's fingertips solidify then shatter, the silver pattern on her neck spreading upward like a living thing: "Forty‑six minutes, you shell, can you hold out?"

"That's enough," Ke Long Wang Jun kicks open the panel beneath the console, revealing a fingerprint scanner, "But we need to handle a few things first."

The adjacent wall slides open silently, a cold beam of light shooting out, illuminating a small armory.

The weapon rack is a dazzling array, from conventional firearms to energy cannons, tactical vests to specialized explosives, everything imaginable.

The most striking piece is a silver‑blue exoskeletal battle suit hanging at the center, its chest housing a faintly glowing micro energy core.

"Damn!" Zhang Jun grabs a few liquid‑nitrogen grenades and hefts them, "Old man, you stash so much good gear, and you only let me swing that broken sword?"

"That 'Broken Sword' could buy you ten lives," Ke Long Wang Jun pulls a modified sniper rifle from the wall, its barrel etched with ominous purple sigils, "The Heavenly Sword, the only thing that can sever dimensional energy; it took me fifteen years to craft."

Lin Xue opens the door of a cooling unit, a blast of cold hitting her, and pulls out three blue‑hued reagents: "Ice Soul Enhancer?"

"The last three," Ke Long Wang Jun says without turning, "Inject them, and your ice abilities triple. Side effect: body temperature plummets, you won't last long."

Zhang Jun flings the Heavenly Sword, its blade tracing an almost invisible path in the air, slicing a few floating specks of dust: "Do those cyborgs have any soft spots?"

"The neck joint and the power core," Ke Long Wang Jun brings up a hologram showing the cyborgs' internal structure, "But the command-type armor is thick; you must breach the heat vent, precisely."

Lin Xue suddenly says, "Surveillance shows they've split into three routes and can encircle the tower within twenty minutes."

"I have an idea," Ke Long Wang Jun's mechanical fingers blur across the control panel, several red dots lighting up on the map, "Activate the Ark self‑destruct, blow up four key nodes, and drive them toward the southern zone."

Zhang Jun stuffs micro bombs and electromagnetic pulse disruptors into his tactical pack, a grin on his face: "This thing is more of a trap than Old Zhao's matchmaking app; a single touch makes it explode."

"What's in the southern zone?" Lin Xue's ice‑crystal armor re‑covers her damaged combat suit, cold radiating outward.

"The Garbage Processing Center," Ke Long Wang Jun says, removing the sniper rifle's scope to wipe it, the barrel reflecting an eerie blue glow, "the city's largest acid pool."

Zhang Jun laughs, his teeth stark white in the dim light: "Give those tin cans a bath—environmentally friendly."

Ten minutes later.

Various corners of the underground city.

Ke Long Wang Jun occupies a high point on a tower, the modified sniper rifle's scope locked onto the southeast entrance.

Lin Xue lurks beside a pipe of the central water circulation system, ice crystals silently spreading along the cold metal.

Zhang Jun crouches in a ventilation duct around the periphery of the Garbage Processing Center, the micro bomb in his hand flickering with ominous red light.